Bobby Mattick served as a player, manager, scout and administrator in his eight decades in professional baseball. Blessed with good baseball genes – his father, Wally, was also a big leaguer – Mattick inked his first pro contract with the Chicago Cubs in 1933. After making his major league debut in 1938, the right-handed hitting shortstop suited up for a career-high 128 games in 1940, before being dealt to Cincinnati, where he would toil for his final two seasons.

The Sioux City, Iowa native managed in the Southern League in 1944 and 1945, before cementing a reputation as one of baseball’s top scouts and player development executives. Employed by nine different organizations – including the Montreal Expos – over the next 30 years, Mattick recruited and signed an impressive list of talent, including Frank Robinson, Curt Flood, Vada Pinson, Rusty Staub, Gary Carter and Dave Stieb.